The Invisible Life Of Addie La Rue chronicles the life of Addie, a 23-year-old living in New York City in 2014. This sounds fairly normal except for one small thing. Addie has been 23 for 300 hundred years and no one ever remembers her. The moment she leaves your sight, you forget she ever existed. It’s like she was never there. Addie is like a ghost or more accurately, a woman out of time. She exerts every effort to make a lasting impression on the world, to be truly noticed or remembered. But it's all pointless. She is unable to leave any marks. Not a line, a sketch, words, nothing. Not even her name can be uttered. Addie has been like this since the 17th century; where she made a deal with the devil in Villon, France, in 1691, the day she ran away from her wedding.

Addie had always been warned never to pray to the old gods that “answered at night” but the day she was almost forced into a marriage she did not want, she made a mistake. She lost track of time and when she became aware of this, it was too late. The “devil” had already come to answer her prayer. Feeling like she had no other choice, she made a deal with him. She asked to be given immortality and in return, she would give him her soul. He agreed but when the deed was done, it was not as she expected. No one remembered her; not her parents, not the old woman who taught her to pray to the old gods, no one. Fast forward to 2014 and Addie steals a book from a bookstore and tries to switch it for another some days later but she can’t, because the owner remembered her. The novel switches between Addie’s life across time and her present one in 2014.

When I was done with the book, the first thought I had was how well-written it was. Schwab did an impeccable job with the way she weaved history, art, romance, and pain. The entire book felt like poetry. It was simply beautiful. I fell in love with the moments between Addie and the devil; Luc. Every interaction was always so intense and palpable. I usually felt like I could taste their emotions. It was oozing off the pages. Addie and Luc had a very complicated relationship and though Luc was mostly an ass, at some point you find yourself rooting for him- for a bit.

The relationship Addie and Henry(the boy who remembers her) build together is very sweet and almost therapeutic for her. It was what Addie had always wanted. A safe, soft, warm love with someone who would remember her the next day. Henry was also incredibly grounded and just there for her. It was different from what she was used to. Almost painful, but in a good way since she had been alone for so long. It was almost hard to let him love her.

What I love the most about this book is its ability to let you feel Addie’s pain. All the sadness, the loneliness… it’s almost like you can touch it. Also, the queer elements were incredibly lovely yet subtle. It was represented by passing mentions of exes on both Addie and Henry’s part which, in many ways, normalised queerness in hetero-presenting relationships.

When I first picked up this book I was in the mood for some fantasy. I needed magic and some romance. Though I could see trace elements from the very start, I found it a bit difficult to actually get going. I wasn’t in the right head-space for such a slow-paced book. I obviously got into it and fell completely in love with it later but I feel this book is an acquired taste. It’s not for everyone. Few people will be able to sit through the first parts. Many would find it almost boring but for lovers of poetry, whimsical writing, history, art and art history and people who enjoy things that are understood after digging a little deeper, THIS IS YOUR BOOK.

I give it a solid 10 because few things make me ache the way this book did.